This invention relates generally to embroidery and tufting machines and more particularly to hand-held such machines employing an eccentrically reciprocative hollow needle to insert loops of thread or yarn through a base fabric.
A hollow needle, through which thread or yarn is pulled, is conventionally employed in embroidery and in tufting or hooking rugs to manually insert loops of the thread or yarn through a base fabric. Embroidery in this manner requires substantial practice to become proficient and beginners often become discouraged. To facilitate forming large numbers of loops in a base fabric, several machines have been proposed.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,932,516 to Gilleland; 2,002,401 to Kohanek; and 2,077,719 to Solliday, disclose rug tufting devices in which a hollow needle is eccentrically driven for reciprocation of the needle lengthwise of the device. A guide member along the needle shaft at one end of the device provides a bearing or pivot point for pivoting the needle as it reciprocates so that the point of the needle traverses a closed tear-drop-shaped or generally elliptical path. These tools are driven manually by hand cranks, which is unsatisfactory for embroidering. It is difficult to accurately guide the tool with one hand while turning the crank with the other. In addition, the moving parts of each of these tools are exposed along the length of the tool, limiting the available positions at which the tool can be hand held to a handle positioned at the end of the tool opposite the needle. This arrangement makes close control of needle position, which is particularly important in fine embroidery, virtually impossible to achieve.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,229,653 to Roberts, et al. discloses a portable tufting machine which incorporates means for powering the needle reciprocation and drive mechanism from an external power source via a flexible rotating shaft or cable. Such a powering means is unsatisfactory, particularly for an embroidery machine, because the cable interferes with maneuvering of the tool over the workpiece and also ties the user to the proximity of the power source. It would be preferable to drive such a machine without need for a stiff cable and, better yet, to dispense altogether with any form of connection to an external power source. Apart from the foregoing drawbacks, the Roberts, et al. machine is also bulky and, utilizing a pistol grip handle remote from the needle, is difficult to control.
Accordingly, a need remains for a convenient hand-held machine for inserting loops of thread or yarn into a base fabric and, more particularly, for such a powered embroidery machine adapted for precise control of the needle.